The Treasure Chest
by I'm a Tiny Bronco
Summary: The story of a young man from Kalm who winds up in the dangerous field of monster hunting, who's life gets even more complicated with the return of Omega Weapon.  Takes place many years after Advent Children.
1. Prologue

**Still figuring out the site but I was itching to do a story after reading all this cool work. Rated T for violence, probably, and we'll see what happens...**

**Prologue**

The brilliance of the sun is blurred by a three foot veil of salt water, so I can stare hopelessly up at it without being blinded. The pain in my chest makes me want to breathe, but it would hurt worse to move, so instead I just let a tiny bubble of air through my teeth and watch it float up into that heavenly looking sunlight. The image is so peaceful. Well, it _was_ except now the pints of blood swilling out of my open wound are clouding up and ruining everything.

I am so stupid. Everywhere I went, as bad as things got, I was that much safer because I never forgot the words Deacon gave me when I was first starting out. "Know your limits. Never take a job you can't handle. You're only in this for the money, so keep it about the money. You do it right, you can retire in 10 years. One wrong move, you could die at any second. Eyes out, boy, eyes out," he had said. Sure, I went a bit too big for my britches at times, taking on a job a bit bigger than my pay grade so I could get more clients and get out of the game quicker. But then it stopped being about money, and before I knew it I was taking jobs because of _words._

"Omega Weapon will destroy the Planet. Find Omega Weapon. Defeat Omega Weapon. You may be the only one who can," the Sages told me. Dirty Sages. Old warriors who can't stop talking about the Lifestream, or the Planet, or "the greater good." Sitting at a fire with my girl- …fiancé was my Lifestream. The truth is that there were other people who could have dealt with this. I could have sent that retard Denzel whining in the other direction, but no I let myself believe it had to be me. Now I'm gonna die here, alone and forgotten like just another amateur monster hunter who doesn't know his place. Just another funny cliché within the Hunter Clan, who's memories are passing before his eyes…


	2. Out

**From:** Will Pryor-Bennett  
**To:**  
**Sent:** Sun, December 5, 2010 12:24:27 AM  
**Subject:** ff7 thing

It was awhile ago now. I was slumped over the bar, staring vapidly through my drunken haze at the rows of bottles lining the back wall. Also in my vision was my right arm, stretched out as if reaching for those precious liquids. But I knew my limits. Kinda. I was trying to make it work, willing that lifeless arm to do its job. C'mon, arm-o-mine, you can do this. Big John, that pudgy bartender, came jiggling into my view and turned to face me, shaking his head in disdain. It was what I needed. The right pieces of the brain clicked together and I saw the familiar green circle of light glow inside my forearm. The magic swirled from my wrist up to my chest, and then the light flashed across my face like a breath of fresh air. _Ah, there I am _I thought. I sat up straight and smiled at Big John.

"Another round, please," I said cheerfully. A growl escaped Big John as his eyes went as dark as the familiar tunnel outside the bar, which Big John chucked me into.Q

"You're cut off, Solar. For good this time," Big John slammed the door shut. I stared at it longingly for only a second until it opened again. A tall, brown-skinned man stepped into the tunnel. He was wearing loose-fitting black leather with his long, straight black hair tied into a ponytail. And for some reason, he was smiling at me.

"Esuna," he nodded, "heals all ailments... meaning you can drink all you like."

"Yeah well," I smirked, "not anymore." I ambled down the tunnel and stopped just before the edge of the shadow. My hometown of Kalm was lying before me, bathed in daylight, and I wasn't sure I could handle the full power of the sun so soon.

"How long have you been using that bit of magic?" the guy asked me. I hesitated before the sunlight, then turned to face him.

"Everybody around here has to learn Esuna when they're about 10 years old, in case someone gets hurt," I said. The guy just kept staring at me. Finally, I said, "annnd I've been using it in this bar since I was about 15... Soooo five years now," I added, because the guy was _still staring at me! _Finally he walked past me and stopped right outside the edge of the shadow. The light of the sun streaked down the length of his hair and glinted off the silver machete strapped to his back. I squinted through the glare reflecting off the blade, weakly raising a hand in the hopes of shielding myself.

"You ought to be doing better things with your time," the guy said, and he walked off. I wanted to shrug off what he said, but those had actually been the nicest words I'd heard from anybody in town for quite some time. Eventually the story of me growing up with- and being abandoned by- an alcoholic father had lost its sympathy and now I am just the new town drunk. So, in true drunkard form, I go bumbling out onto the cobblestone. A few tourists from Midgar slums are in the town square, looking around like this is the best place in the world. If Big John is serious about the cut-off, I might have to follow them home. There's nothing here for me anyway. I jog through the square and barge into the Inn. Jane, the owner, was shaking her head at me.

"What?" I said.

"It's six months you've been here, Solar, and I always said I'm only putting up with you as long as John does," Jane said.

"You know already?" I asked.

"Word travels fast in a small town, Solar," Jane nodded wisely.

"Yeah but it happened like... I mean it just happened! I was over there thirty seconds ago!" I protested. Jane just kept shaking her head until I gave up and clambered up the stairs. The sound of my feet on the floorboards was so familiar I almost started crying, but whatever. I can find a new home. I slammed into "my" room and found Talia lying on the bed. Talia has blonde pigtails and nice skin. I've got messy dark hair. Her father left sooner in her life that mine did, which helps explain why she's messing around with me in the first place.

"I hear you're on your way out," Talia smiled at me. I grabbed my one good black jacket from the closet and threw it on over my white shirt and jeans. Then I snatched up my blue sports bag and went over to the chest near the bed. Talia rolled around so she was facing me. "I always wanted to date a boy from the streets," she whispered. I snapped the chest open and pulled out two sacks filled with gil, placing them in my bag.

"There are no streets in Kalm," I said, and I zipped the bag closed and slung it over my shoulder. Talia planted a hand on the hardwood so she could lean off the bed and kiss me on the cheek. As she did, she reached under the bed and pulled out a sports bag of her own. I glanced at her. "Do you really want our thing to leave this room?" I asked, "because I don't think that's going to go well for you around here." Sure, there had been rumors, but...

"There's nothing in Kalm, baby. Especially if you leave," Talia said. She was totally nuts, but I really didn't have time to try and convince her otherwise. Well, maybe I did, it's just that I hated everyone. They all thought I was garbage and I didn't know why I had put up with their cruel stares for so long. I decided this was it, and I couldn't get out fast enough. Before I knew it, Talia and I were running down the steps and crossing to the door. Jane was a bit more upset this time.

"Talia? Daughter! NO, no I can't believe it-" Jane cried. A flash of green went off behind me as a I reached the door, and when I turned around, Jane was sprawled on her stomach, asleep in the middle of the room.

"You know it really scares me that you can do that," I said to Talia.

"Your father left you money, mine left me weird materia," Talia shrugged. I opened the door and we stepped out. Talia went out first and I saw her stop dead in surprise. When I followed, I saw that all the townspeople were gathered in the square, watching the Inn. There were even people peering from the stairs that lead to the "upper level" where the shops were. They were all just looking at us in triumphant, disdained silence. I took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Let's go," I said. Together we turned and ran out into the meadow.


	3. Talia

Most monsters around Kalm aren't so threatening. We gave them a wide space while passing and they didn't feel the need the chase us. It wasn't until we got closer to that infamous Midgar plate, walking beneath an endless giant shadow, when we began to regret not bringing any weapons. To make matters worse, we cut through a junkyard to save time. I was/am such an idiot, I can't even tell you.

We walked through a hallway bordered by tall piles of twisted metal. Exhaust pipes, rusted rotator blades from an airship, you name it. My bag bounced against my side as I looked everything over, still walking. Talia had undone her pigtails, so her blonde hair was flowing in a majestic mess behind her. "Maybe we should search this place," Talia said, "find something useful. That way I don't have to watch you hide from monsters all day."

"You must be getting hungry or something," I growled.

"A girl's gotta eat," Talia said. I dropped my back and climbed onto the tall garbage pile on my right. I don't understand why girls say stuff like that. "A girl's gotta eat." As if men don't have to eat too? I'm pretty sure it's a basic need for the human race, so why go and make it about feminism? I didn't even invite her and now she is making me responsible for feeding her when she's hungry?

"You're not my responsibility," I told her out loud.

"It's not about being responsible," Talia said, "it's about being nice." I sighed as I picked through the trash, tossing useless items behind me. I was sure a few bits and pieces were landing nearby her, but I didn't mind. In fact, I thought it was pretty righteous, until a hard sphere shot right to the back of my head. I collapsed onto the rubble, clutching my new bruise. A yellow orb of materia landed beside me. I looked down at Talia, who seemed pretty pleased with herself. I snatched up the yellow materia.

"Did you just wing this at me!" I raged.

"Well you were throwing things at me," Talia said.

"I was kidding!" I cried.

"I'm sure you were," Talia scoffed back. I looked down at the orb in my hands. The truth was, I probably wasn't kidding. I felt irritable about what she said, and so I decided to take it out on her. It's a thought I wouldn't have had if I was drinking. The sober business was not my thing. I decided to get to Midgar double quick. There were some good bars in there, Sector 6 and 7 especially. "Are you going to equip that material already?" Talia asked, smirking, "I'm sure your system could handle two."

"It looks like somebody pissed on a normal materia," I said.

"Wow," Talia laughed, "it's just a different kind, Solar." She was really letting her claws out. I only kept her around because she made me feel like half a person. I glared at her as I gently pressed the orb against my chest. They say when you get a new materia it's like getting a new finger or arm that you have to get used to, which I felt with Esuna, but with this one I didn't feel anything. I was still racking my brain for whatever magic I was supposed to have when we heard the rumbling. "What was that?" gasped Talia.

"Just get up here!" I yelled. Talia climbed up to me and we laid flat in the rubble as the motorcycle rolled into the pathway we had been on. It had no rider, just a pair of googly eyes between the handlebars. Really, to this day, it's one of the most freakish monsters I've ever seen. It rumbled by slowly for a moment, then it saw the bags. The living bike rumbled angrily as it found us in the rubble. It tried to motor up the junk heap but its tires weren't getting traction. Talia and I said something like this: "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

We scrambled up to the top of the mound. Down below, I saw a pool of Mako energy. Pieces of metal were floating inside of it, and other pieces were crawling out of it. A robotic hand and forearm was crawling up of the mound toward me. A couple of living motorcycles, different than the earlier one, were sitting in the pool as if they were taking a bath.

"The Mako must have brought them to life," Talia breathed. I looked around and saw the handle of a mid-size shovel sticking up through the metal. I went over to it and yanked it out. The robot hand spread out its metallic fingers so it was standing like a spider. It quivered and then leapt high through the air, straight at Talia. I ran over and Talia ducked as I swung hard with the shovel, smacking the thing backward. It fell slowly down, down, until it splashed into the Mako pool and made every creature there aware of us. The motorcycle that saw our bags roared up and knocked Talia in the back, sending her tumbling down into the pool.

"TALIA!" I yelled. It's amazing how much you can care, even if you think you don't. I leaped onto the handlebars of the bike just before it could run me over with its front tire. I grappled to stay on and keep the shovel in one hand. The bike made a strange grunting noise beneath me. It was driving blind. Talia's head broke back above the surface of the pool. Talia gasped wildly, covered in green. I reared my arm back and drove the blade of the shovel right into the engine. It was weird metal flesh. The blade bit through and made sparks. Red and black blood started flowing out, and both the bike and Talia shrieked with pain. The bike faltered and slowed. I fell backwards onto the trash. I looked over at the other two angry-looking bikes down by the pool. Missiles formed around them in mid-air. Once there were a good many around each bike, they launched straight at me. I dove behind the dying bike, and then I dove away from the dying bike as the missiles hit it. The bike went up in flames as the yellow materia glowed bright inside my chest. I could feel it in me now, and I concentrated, and those same missiles started appearing around me.

"Oh this is sweet," I laughed, and I opened fire on the two motorcycles. Talia screamed again as they exploded, their guts going everywhere, and she turned to look darkly at me. There was an eerie light in her eyes from the Mako. I slung the staff of the shovel over my shoulder and started making my way towards her. The remaining small, freaky creatures backed away as I approached.

"Get away," Talia said coldly.

"What?"

"You murdered them. You _murdered _them," Talia said, holding back tears. Even though I had just been in the most epic battle up to that point in my life, and Talia was suffering from Mako poisoning, she still wanted to fight. And I was right there with her.

"What's the matter with you? They were going to kill us," I said. I was shaking from the adrenaline.

"We were on their territory and they were scared," Talia insisted.

"You're scaring _me_," I said, "and it's getting dark out, we have to get to Midgar." Talia shook her head.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," she said. For awhile, I tried to convince her. I she wouldn't go with me to Midgar she could at least get out of the Mako. I started screaming, at one point, for her to get out. She stayed there. An hour passed, and then another, and just when I needed a drink so bad I couldn't sit there a moment longer Talia got out of the pool and walked back in the direction of our bags. I followed her. We picked the bags up, left the junkyard, and walked the rest of the way to Midgar in silence. I had to pay an extra fifty gil so they would let me bring the shovel through the gate.


End file.
